Timberwolves-Warriors Preview

By JEFF BARTLPosted Apr 11 2015 11:27AM

Off the court, Curry sidesteps questions about his desire for the award, instead focusing on how the Warriors need to continue preparing for the playoffs.

The Warriors seek a 16th consecutive home victory when they face the Western Conference-worst Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

It may seem like an obvious choice to vote for the best player for the NBA's best team, but Curry has competition for the award in Houston's James Harden, who already said he'd vote himself for MVP.

Curry continues to let his play do more of the talking, scoring 45 points while hitting 17 of 23 from the field to help the Warriors (64-15) overcome a 13-point deficit in Thursday's 116-105 win over Portland.

His eight 3-pointers gave him 276 on the season, breaking his own NBA record of 272 set in 2012-13.

"I'm never out there playing with (being named MVP) as motivation," said Curry, who became the first Warrior with 45 points and 10 assists in a game since Latrell Sprewell in 1997. "You get sidetracked if you start doing that, start playing outside of yourself. Obviously, I know the situation. There's three games left in the regular season and the (voting) process is kind of upon us, but in-game it's not, 'I need to make this shot to boost my MVP (chances).' I try to do my part every single night."

And he has, more often that not, while getting public endorsements from Kerr.

"There's nothing left to say except that he's the MVP," Kerr said. "That counts as campaigning. I don't know how to describe what I saw (Thursday)."

Golden State clinched the league's best record with the win and has won 15 straight at Oracle Arena, where it will play its final three of the regular season. Curry suggested Kerr may limit minutes down the stretch, but also said he wants to remain fresh and not be rusty for the postseason.

"We're not going to get ahead of ourselves," Curry said. "We want to win these next three games. You can't put yourself into late May, early June because there's a lot of different things we have to accomplish before we get there."

The Warriors have won 11 of 12 meetings with the Timberwolves (16-63) and all three this season, but they had some trouble in the most recent matchup Feb. 7.

Curry finished with 25 points but hit just 9 of 23 from the field - 2 of 10 from 3-point range - while Klay Thompson hit 5 of 14 from the floor in a 94-91 road win.

Kevin Martin scored 21 points in that contest for Minnesota, which is headed for a high draft pick while continuing to deal with multiple injuries.

Curry, Warriors too much for Timberwolves

By MICHAEL WAGAMANPosted Apr 12 2015 3:01AM

His team having locked up its spot as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference long ago, Kerr is concerned the Warriors might have trouble sustaining their momentum down the stretch.

So far, he's been right.

Back-to-back losses to San Antonio and New Orleans, coupled with a closer-than-expected win over Minnesota, perfectly illustrate Kerr's point.

"It felt like we went through the motions a little bit," Kerr said following Golden State's 110-101 win over struggling Minnesota on Saturday night. "Maybe this is just two weeks of already knowing our position, I don't know. We just weren't sharp."

Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 34 points in the first half, Klay Thompson made three 3-pointers in the final 4 minutes and the Warriors set yet another franchise record with the win over the Timberwolves.

The Warriors broke their franchise record with their 37th home win. They have lost only twice at home and lead the NBA with a 65-15 record.

Curry wasn't as sharp as he was two nights earlier when he had 45 points in Golden State's win over Portland but he was just as effective. The All-Star point guard made five 3s, went 11 of 21 from the floor and had seven assists to help the Warriors complete a four-game sweep of the Timberwolves.

"They only had seven guys active so we knew they were guys playing for their contracts and NBA lives," said Warriors center Andrew Bogut, who had seven points and six rebounds. "They came out and gave us good battle but we kind of need that. I think it'll help us in the playoffs."

Andrew Wiggins had 17 points, six rebounds and nine assists for Minnesota. The Timberwolves have dropped 10 straight to fall to 16-64.

"We could easily have phoned it in," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "It's encouraging to see the guys work hard. With our injury situation we basically played just seven guys."

Minnesota trailed by as much as 17 but pulled to 94-93 on Zach LaVine's jumper.

Thompson, who missed his first five shots from beyond the arc, made his first 3-pointer to put the Warriors up 97-93 with 3:51 left. Green followed with a fast-break layup and, after Chase Budinger scored for Minnesota, Thompson made his second 3 and Curry added a three-point play to make it 105-95.

"I just think they're ready for the playoffs," Kerr said of his players. "They want it, and I'm very confident that when that happens, when the playoffs come, our edge will be back and we'll be sharper."

Curry is making sure the Warriors go into the postseason on a roll.

In two games since Golden State suffered back-to-back losses to San Antonio and New Orleans, Curry has been nearly unstoppable with 79 points and 17 assists.

He scored 15 points in the first quarter the helped the Warriors pull away in the third. Curry made a 17-foot jumper from the baseline, fed Barnes for a thunderous alley-oop dunk then sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to extend the Warriors lead to 86-69.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Timberwolves: Point guard Ricky Rubio will undergo exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle Monday in Southern California. Rubio has played in only 22 games this season. ... Kevin Garnett is hopeful of playing in one of the final two games but it seems unlikely. "I think he doesn't feel his leg is strong enough where it needs to be at, because he doesn't want to take a chance where it can prevent him from having an opportunity to play next year," Saunders said.

Warriors: Injured reserve guard Leandro Barbosa (right Achilles) sat out his second straight game but is expected to be available for Monday's game against Memphis. ... F James Michael McAdoo was recalled from the Developmental League before the game.

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: Host New Orleans on Monday night.

Warriors: Host Memphis on Monday night.

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